Dawn Rescheduled for September Launch 8 July 2007

The mission will characterize the early solar system and the processes that dominated its formation.

During the earliest epochs of our solar system, the materials in the solar nebula varied with their distance from the sun. As this distance increased, the temperature dropped, with terrestrial bodies forming closer to the sun, and icy bodies forming farther away.

The asteroid Vesta and the recently categorized dwarf planet Ceres have been selected because,

while both speak to conditions and processes early in the formation of the solar system, they developed Dawn Spacecraft. into two different kinds of bodies. Vesta is a dry, differentiated object with a surface that shows signs of resurfacing. It resembles the rocky bodies of the inner solar system, including Earth. Ceres, by The launch of NASA's Dawn spacecraft, a mission contrast, has a primitive surface containing water- that will explore the two largest objects in the bearing minerals, and may possess a weak asteroid belt in an effort to answer questions about atmosphere. It appears to have many similarities to the formation of our solar system, has been the large icy moons of the outer solar system. rescheduled to September. By studying both these two distinct bodies with the The decision was made Saturday to move the same complement of instruments on the same launch to September after careful review by spacecraft, the Dawn mission hopes to compare NASA's Science Mission Directorate officials, the different evolutionary path each took as well as working with Dawn mission managers, the Dawn create a picture of the early solar system overall. principal investigator, and with the concurrence of Data returned from the Dawn spacecraft could the NASA Administrator. provide opportunities for significant breakthroughs in our knowledge of how the solar system formed. Primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited launch opportunities for Dawn in To carry out its scientific mission, the Dawn July and the potential impact to launch spacecraft will carry three science instruments preparations for the upcoming Phoenix Mars whose data will be used in combination to Lander mission, set for early August. A September characterize these bodies. These instruments launch for Dawn maintains all of the science consist of a visible camera, a visible and infrared mission goals a July launch would have provided. mapping spectrometer, and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer. In addition to these NASA will hold a news briefing on Monday, July 9, instruments, radiometric and optical navigation data to preview the launch of the Phoenix Mars Lander. will provide data relating to the gravity field and thus bulk properties and internal structure of the During its nearly decade-long mission, the Dawn two bodies. mission will study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have Source: NASA accreted early in the history of the solar system.

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APA citation: Dawn Rescheduled for September Launch (2007, July 8) retrieved 1 October 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2007-07-dawn-rescheduled-september.html

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